PERSIAN GULF MEMBER GATHERING IN TEHRAN, IRAN DECEMBER 23, 2005

In the closing decades of the 20^th century, however, with the oil boom in the Arab states on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf, some mischievous elements tried to used the spurious term ‘Arabian’ for this crucial waterway, despite the fact that several of the sheikhdoms on the other side are Iranian and Persian in origin, such as Dubai, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah, etc.

Today on April 30, the day on which in the year 1622, the Portuguese invaders were expelled from this waterway including the island of Bahrain by Safavid emperor, Shah Abbas the Great, the Islamic Republic has decided to name this day as Persian Gulf Day.

Based on historical documents, such as books of history, geography, and literature, written by various nations, such as Iranians, Arabs, Turks, Greeks, Romans, Indians, Chinese, Africans, British, Portuguese, French and others, this waterway has been Persian from time immemorial. It is strategically located, stretching from the estuary of the Rivers Euphrates-Tigris-Karoun to the Strait of Hormuz that links it to the Gulf of Oman.

Today also, on its entire northern side is Iran, while on its southern side are six Arab states. It has an area of 233 thousand square kilometers and after Mexican Gulf and the Hudson Bay is considered the third biggest gulf of the world. Through the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf waters meet the Arabian Sea, which is an arm of the larger Indian Ocean. The Persian Gulf accounts for the daily transit of 40 percent of the world’s supply of crude oil.

On March 5, 1975 and January 1, 1999, the UN General Assembly issued statements clarifying that this waterway is the Persian Gulf, and not “Arabian” as alleged by mischievous elements. This spurious name cannot be found in any historical or geographical source, prior to the 1960s, and the Arabs were taught in schools and colleges that the official name is al-Khalij al-Farsi. Even Egypt’s president, Jamal Abdun-Nasser, the champion of Arab nationalism, used to refer to it as al-Khalij al-Farsi, or Persian Gulf.

Those behind the dubious efforts to change the name of the Persian Gulf are the enemies of the Iranian and Arab Muslims. The aim of these agents of colonialism and Zionism is to cause friction between the Iranian and Arabs, and in this plot, certain reactionary Arab regimes are involved. These plots became intensive following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and Iran’s invitation to all Muslim states to knit ranks in the face of Global Arrogance.

In order to defeat this conspiracy, the Islamic Republic of Iran has brought to attention the bulk of historical and geographical literature in Arabic that refers to this waterway, since the earliest period of Islamic history, as Persian Sea or Persian Gulf. For instance, the famous historian and geographer, Abu’l Qassem Obeidollah ibn Abdullah, Khordadbeh in his book “al-Masalek wa’l-Mamalek”, has used the term Persian Sea.

Another prominent figure to call this Persian Sea was Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Mohammad, known as Ibn Faqih , in his book “Mokhtasar-ol-Boldan”. The celebrated geographer Ibn Houqal in his book “Sourat-al-Ardh” has referred to this waterway as Sea of Fars. In the book “Hodoud al-Alam min-al-Mashreq il’al-Maghreb”, which is the oldest book of geography in Arabic, the term Persian Gulf has been used. Among the modern Arab writers, Jurji Zaydan, Philip Khouri Hitti and the famous Egypt-based Arabic encyclopedia, “al-Monjed”, the term Persian Gulf has been used.

Thus in view of these facts, the feverish attempts since the closing decades of the 20^th century are an exercise in futility, even though these Persian Gulf Arab states have printed books and prepared map with the distorted term Khalij al-Arabi. This is nothing but an exercise in futility in view of the ancient Arabic texts we have mentioned. The then US secretary of state William Rogers in his 1971 report regarding the foreign policy of Iran has used the term Persian Gulf.

Zbigniew Brzezinski the advisor to the then US President Jimmy Carter in his book titled “Game Plan” has used the term Persian Gulf. Former UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim in his book titled “Glass Palace of World Politics” has used the terms Persian Gulf while discussing the Iraqi imposed war on Iran. In the US Congress Library and New York Argo Library there are over 300 maps in which the name of the Persian Gulf has been registered. In the British Library, and London’s public documents centre, there are over 300 maps which mention the term Persian Gulf. The First International Laws Convention held in Geneva in 1958, the Persian Gulf was among the 20 waterway whose international sea rights were defined.

The United Nations which includes 22 Arab states as its members that always uses the geographical term Persian Gulf. In the UN convention for laws of Seas dated December 10, 1982, has mentioned the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the Persian Gulf. On August 10, 1984, the UN officially announced that the body of water on the southern coasts of Iran between the Hormuz Strait and the Tigris-Euphrates Estuary is Persian Gulf.

Thus it is clear that the geographical term Persian Gulf is correct and will remain Persian Gulf forever, which means no temporary country can ever erase it and replace with a spurious name.